Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Hope

That goddess, when all other deities abandoned the wicked earth,
remained alone on the god-detested place. 30
She causes even the ditcher to live in spite of his shackles
and to think that his limbs will be freed from the iron.
She makes the shipwrecked man, seeing no land on any side,
move his arms in the midst of the waves.
Oft has a man been abandoned by the skill and care of physicians, 35
but hope leaves him not though his pulses fail.
Those who are shut in prison hope for release, they say,
and many a one hanging on the cross still prays.
How many this goddess has prevented in the act of fastening the noose about their throats
from perishing by the death they had purposed! 40

That deity, Hope, when all other gods abandoned
the wicked earth, remained: it's she who fills 30
even the shackled ditcher with zest for the future,
faith that his legs will lose their chains;
it's she who keeps shipwrecked sailors swimming in mid-ocean
with no land anywhere in sight.
Often the skill and care of doctors fail a patient, 35
yet though his heartbeat wavers, his hopes stay high.
Those in prison are said to hope for deliverance,
a crucified man still prays.
Many men, as they knotted the rope round their throat, this goddess
headed off from the death they sought. 40